ocular symptoms and signs in professional video-display users

purpose: to compare the prevalence of ocular symptoms and signs in professional video-display users (vdu) and non-users. methods: this cross-sectional case-control study was performed on bank staff who used computer for their task as the vdu group and staff who did not work with computer as controls. ocular symptoms were evaluated based on a questionnaire and signs were detected according to complete ocular examination. results: the vdu group included 34 male and 23 female subjects with mean age of 30.7±6.8 years and controls included 25 male and 31 female subjects with mean age of 27.6±7.2 years. there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding age and sex. ocular symptoms included burning and tearing in 79% vs 45% (p=0.037), dry eye sensation in 66% vs 32% (p= 0.022) and asthenopia in 64.8% vs 40% (p=0.044) of the vdu group vs controls, respectively. dry eye based on schirmer test of less than 10 mm after 5 minutes was found in 40.3% vs 10.7% in the vdu group and controls, respectively (p=0.012). tear break up time of less than 10 seconds was seen in 43.8% of the vdu group and 8.9% of the control group (p=0.044). heterophoria was present in 33.2% of the vdu group vs 5.3% of controls (p=0.032). there was no difference between the two groups regarding myopia (54.3% in the vdu group vs 39.2% in controls). conclusion: ocular complaints such as burning and tearing, dry eye sensation and asthenopia were more prevalent in video-display users.